David George Vogenitz

VOGENITZ, DAVID GEORGE

Poet & Writer

Sacramento poet and writer David George Vogenitz passed away Wednesday, September 17th, peacefully in his sleep, age 73. He will be remembered for enormous contributions in the field of poetry, seminal research and publication on Flamenco and Gypsy culture, and by all those whose lives he touched.

Widely published in Europe and America, David spent 25 years in Western Europe, Africa and the Middle East, domiciled mostly in Spain, but also in Morocco, Egypt and Turkey.

A US Army veteran of the Cold War era, he served as a member of the Counter-Intelligence Corps in Germany and Austria, plus duty in Asia and Washington, D.C.

He lectured at various European and American universities on art and anthropology, and exhibited paintings and photographs in London, Munich, Madrid, Venice and elsewhere.

An award-winning poet and prolific writer, David George's work has been published in over one hundred literary magazines and anthologies, including The Anthology of Magazine Verse and The Yearbook of American Poetry. He has won numerous awards, including several nominations for the Pushcart Prize, the 1997 Erika Mumford Award from the New England Poetry Club for his Tahitian Sketches, Grand Prize Winner of the Pennsylvania Poetry Society National Poetry Contest for American Gothic, both first and third prizes in the 1996 West Haven Connecticut Council of the Arts National Poetry Contest, for Landscape with the Fall of Icarus and Things of the Sea Belong to the Sea, the title poem of a forthcoming book based on his years in Surfside, California.

He received the Sacramento Metropolitan Art Commission's Works in Performance Award plus publication of his book Lamentation for Emmanuel (Wooden Angel Press). His 1969 book on gypsies and asuntos gitanos, The Flamenco Guitar (Society of Spanish Studies) was one of the many products of his years living among the gypsies in Andalucia, and is widely regarded as a ground-breaking work in what was at the time a non-existent field.

Born and raised in Wisconsin (BA degree UW-Milwaukee; graduate studies at Marquette University), he completed advanced degrees in Indiana (MA), California (MA) and Florida (PhD), while dividing his time between Europe and the United States.

David is survived by his son Donn Tice of Oakland, California, Donn's mother Phyllis of Milwaukee Wisconsin, a daughter and son from his second family, Shauna Rae Long of New York City and Steven R. Long, of Bosnia-Herzgovenia, their mother Carol, grandchildren Virginia and Alexander Tice of Oakland, California, grandchildren Emily and Todd Long, of Bosnia-Herzgovenia, sister Elaine Regenauer of Milwaukee, WI and nieces Julie Regenauer Corbin of Caledonia, WI and Laura Regenauer of Milwaukee, WI, companion Margaret Howard Foster Anderson, of Sacramento, and loyal comrade Lisa Larrabee of Bellinghan, Washington, and dozens of others whose lives he touched.

Friends are welcome for a close casket visitation Thursday, September 25, 2003 starting at 12pm and are invited to attend a Vigil Service Thursday at 7:00pm at NICOLETTI, CULJIS & HERBERGER Funeral Home, 5401 Folsom Blvd. and are invited to attend a Mass of Christian Burial Friday, September 26, 2003 at 11:00am at ST. MARY'S CATHOLIC CHURCH, 58TH & "M" Streets. Interment with Military Honors, St. Mary's Cemetery. Lunch will follow at Casa Garden, 2760 Sutterville Rd., Sacramento. Proceeds from the lunch will go to the Sacramento Children s Home, which has been helping children for over 100 years. Memorial gifts to the David George Archive Foundation C/O Donn Tice, 1012 Ashmount Ave., Oakland, Ca 94610. The foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to making the work of David George available to a wider audience; contributions are tax-deductible, tax ID 20-0244861.